The US economy is facing its greatest labor shortage in many decades. With over 11 million jobs needing to be filled, companies are experiencing serious impediments to productivity, which cuts into their profit margins. What can companies do to combat these labor shortcomings? We’ve put together some of the best strategies for overcoming labor shortages in the current economy.
Supporting a Remote Work Environment
Since COVID, many employees have a new understanding of what work should look like. Having shown that they can work effectively from remote workspaces, many employees now are searching for ways to collaborate from home and in the office. With an ERP solution in place, companies can empower their employees to collaborate from anywhere, anytime, enhancing job satisfaction, productivity and, ultimately, loyalty to your company.
Maximizing Resources via Automation
For a long time now, a company’s most vital resource has existed in an isolated place—in the minds of their most experienced workers. By leveraging automation with an ERP solution, companies can document workflows and provide centralized access to them so that the entire company can benefit from this esoteric knowledge. To create a centralized database of knowledge:
- Evaluate the systems used to create, manage, and execute workflows.
- Seek and apply employee recommendations, which boost engagement while driving efficiency.
- Digitalize the steps and make them accessible via mobile applications and PCs so workers can review and move tasks along anytime.
- Leverage documented workflows to improve training and reduce turnover.
An ERP solution, such as Acumatica, automatically aggregates historical and real-time data across global enterprises and converts it into personalized reports that identify resource needs. In this way, not only are employees more empowered, but managers can also identify gaps and reallocate resources with ease.
Leveraging Industry-Specific Technology
While labor shortages are affecting every industry, specialized industries experience particular complex difficulties in this respect, left unable to find the trained and specialized labor they need to excel. ERP can help fill in the blanks, offering industry-specific solutions that can pick up some of the slack if you are short-staffed or onboarding people that are new to your space.
ERP designed for specific industries, including manufacturing, retail and more, can combat understaffing by maximizing available resources, all while reducing manual processes and their subsequent labor demands.
Want to explore more strategies for overcoming labor shortages? Read Acumatica’s solution brief on the topic for more details and tips. Ready to learn more about ERP and how it can empower a wide range of strategies for overcoming labor shortages? Get in touch today.
